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What Height Bar Stool for Kitchen Counter?
August 12, 2026

What Height Bar Stool for Kitchen Counter?

The rule for bar stool height is simple: leave a gap of 25cm to 30cm between the seat and the underside of your worktop. For a standard UK counter at around 90cm, that means a seat between 60cm and 65cm, while a raised breakfast bar at 105cm or more needs a seat closer to 80cm. This guide explains the standard counter heights found in British kitchens, how to measure yours accurately from the underside rather than the top, and how to allow for overhang depth, support panels and household height differences. We also cover why the footrest matters as much as the seat height, how much counter width and circulation space each stool needs, and when an adjustable gas lift stool is the more practical answer....

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How Do You Determine How Many Bar Stools You Need?
August 12, 2026

How Do You Determine How Many Bar Stools You Need?

To work out how many bar stools you need, divide the usable length of your counter by 65cm to 70cm and round down: a 1.5m counter takes two, 2m takes three and 2.6m takes four. This guide explains how to calculate usable length by subtracting sinks, hobs, corners and appliance doors, and why leaving clearance at each end matters. It covers how to adjust the spacing figure for backless, swivel and wide upholstered stools, how seating on multiple sides of an island changes the arithmetic, and why the 90cm walkway behind occupied stools often sets the real limit in narrow British kitchens. There is also practical advice on matching the count to how the counter is actually used day to day. The guide also weighs up odd against even numbers, explaining how each affects the way a row of stools looks when the counter is standing empty for most of the day....

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How Do You Reupholster a Round Bar Stool?
August 12, 2026

How Do You Reupholster a Round Bar Stool?

A round seat has no corners, which sounds easier until you realise there is nowhere to hide surplus fabric. Reupholstering one comes down to controlled pleating: eight anchor staples to set the tension, then many small even folds distributed around the circumference so the rim stays smooth. This guide walks through removing and stripping the seat pad, judging whether the foam is still serviceable, cutting an accurate fabric circle with the right margin, and working the pleats so they settle flat rather than forming visible bumps. We also cover the wadding layer that softens the plywood edge, the dust cover that tidies the underside of a swivel stool, and how to refit the bolts without denting your new cover from below. Written for UK homes where a sound stool frame is worth keeping and refreshing rather than replacing....

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How Do You Make Slipcovers for Bar Stools with Backs?
August 12, 2026

How Do You Make Slipcovers for Bar Stools with Backs?

A slipcover for a bar stool with a back is easier than it looks once you stop treating it as one shape. Think of it as three panels instead: the seat, the front of the backrest and the rear of the backrest, each templated separately and joined so the cover slides down over the back and fastens underneath. This guide starts by reading the stool itself, since a gap between seat and back calls for a different approach than a continuous upholstered shell, and a swivel seat must never be joined to the fixed frame. It then covers making templates in calico rather than paper for a genuinely close fit, choosing a fabric that looks presentable from both sides, the order in which to sew the panels, and the finishing details such as piping, understitching and pressing that separate a homemade cover from a tailored one....

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How High Bar Stools for Counter?
August 12, 2026

How High Bar Stools for Counter?

For a standard kitchen counter of 90cm to 95cm, bar stools with a seat height of 60cm to 68cm are the correct choice, because they leave the 25cm to 30cm of clearance that makes sitting genuinely comfortable. This guide explains the simple rule behind that figure, then shows how to measure your own counter accurately, including why worktop thickness and floor finish can change the answer by several centimetres. We look at typical British worktop and breakfast bar heights, what happens when clearance is too tight or too generous, and how soft upholstery settles lower than its listed measurement. There is guidance on choosing between fixed and gas lift stools, why a footrest matters once your feet leave the floor, and how seat depth and backrest height affect comfort. A quick reference table at the end matches every common surface height to the right seat....

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How Many Bar Stools?
August 12, 2026

How Many Bar Stools?

Deciding how many bar stools a kitchen island or breakfast bar should take is a simple calculation that plenty of kitchens get wrong by one seat. This article explains the 60cm to 70cm per stool rule, why you should measure the usable counter length with genuine knee space rather than the full worktop, and how to handle L shaped runs where the corner is not a seat. We look at typical UK island sizes and what each realistically holds, whether odd or even numbers suit your layout, and how pendant lighting affects the decision. There is practical advice on the walkway space needed behind occupied stools, how the counter's actual use changes the answer, and a masking tape test to run before ordering....

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How Do You Get Rust off Bar Stools?
August 12, 2026

How Do You Get Rust off Bar Stools?

Rust on a bar stool frame is common in British kitchens, and treating it properly means following a sequence rather than reaching for a single product. This guide explains why stools corrode at the feet and footrest first, how trapped moisture beneath felt pads and split ferrules keeps the problem going, and why a chip in the finish leads to blistering. It sets out gentle treatments for light spotting using bicarbonate of soda, vinegar or lemon juice, then moves on to abrading heavier rust with the correct grades of wire wool and wet and dry paper, followed by rust converting primer and touch up paint. Stainless steel tea staining is covered separately, along with sealing methods, practical prevention in a humid kitchen, and the point at which a corroded frame is no longer safe to keep using....

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How Do You Choose the Right Bar Stools?
August 12, 2026

How Do You Choose the Right Bar Stools?

Choosing bar stools becomes straightforward once you take the decisions in the right order: height, width, back and footrest, material, then style. Height is the only one that cannot be compromised, which is why so many disappointing purchases go wrong at the first step. This guide explains how to measure to the underside of a worktop, why thickness and padding both shift the figure, how to work out the number of stools from the length of the run, and how the question of how long people actually sit settles the back and footrest decision. It also covers fixed versus gas lift mechanisms, matching materials to kitchen traffic, base stability at taller heights, and how to tie stools into an open plan dining scheme....

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How Do You Take Apart Adjustable Bar Stool?
August 11, 2026

How Do You Take Apart Adjustable Bar Stool?

Adjustable bar stools come apart in four stages, and doing them in the right order turns an awkward job into a twenty minute one: seat first, then the gas cylinder, then the footrest, then the base. The cylinder is the part that stops most people, because it is held by a friction taper rather than a thread, so twisting at the base achieves nothing. This guide explains how to pull it free using straight axial pressure, a rubber mallet on the housing, penetrating oil on corroded joints and a pipe wrench as a last resort. It also covers threaded stools, why body weight rather than a hammer should seat a cylinder on reassembly, safe handling of pressurised struts, and how to pack the parts so the stool actually gets rebuilt....

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How Do You Raise and Lower Bar Stools?
August 11, 2026

How Do You Raise and Lower Bar Stools?

Adjusting a bar stool depends entirely on which mechanism sits beneath the seat, and this guide covers all three. It explains how to identify a gas lift, a screw thread and a fixed base, then sets out the correct technique for each: weight on the seat to lower a gas lift, weight off to raise it, and the reason a loaded seat will never rise. There is troubleshooting for the faults that actually occur, from a cylinder losing pressure and a lever plate slipping off the pin to juddering caused by kitchen grease, along with what can be repaired and what needs replacing. Screw thread stools get their own section, including which way to turn and how to free a binding thread, and fixed stools are covered too, with guidance on trimming legs safely and raising a stool with glides....

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